We have a proud history of supporting our members to get elected to Parliament
GMB has a proud history of supporting our members to get elected to Parliament as Labour MPs; in 2012 our efforts were redoubled through the Congress political strategy.
The work that we’ve put in in the years since then is already bearing fruit. We see it in Labour MPs standing up for GMB members in Westminster – from backing the GMB campaign to keep shipbuilding jobs in the UK, to supporting our campaign to ‘take back the tap’ and re-nationalise the water industry, and much more besides.
GMB MPs are already doing what they can to push the government and get the best deal for our members, but to make the changes we really need, we need Labour in power. That means Labour winning in seats around the country that they came close to in June last year. In nearly all of these areas, Labour now has a parliamentary candidate ready to go.
The national political department, working with regions, has been supporting members to get selected as candidates in these constituencies. We have trained them, helped with literature and speeches and supported their campaigns speaking to local Labour members.
After a lot of work, we’ve got a really good group of candidates and now our focus turns to helping them get elected.
So this month our national Communications team ran a media training day for GMB parliamentary candidates.
The course was aimed at equipping candidates with the skills and knowledge they need to speak up for their values and to get elected. We set up a studio in Euston national office for a ‘down the line’ live TV interview, we took candidates out on to the street to record an interview on a local campaign they’re running, and we put them up against a stand-in playing a Tory MP in a sofa style debate.
Every candidate who came gave glowing feedback on the course. It’s training that candidates aren’t offered from anywhere else: GMB is leading the way.
Part of the work we do in the political department is giving politicians the arguments they need to make the case for GMB and in the evening of the course we went down to parliament for a joint briefing with the GMB Parliamentary Group on the campaign to nationalise the water industry. As we brought together our current MPs with their future colleagues, it was clear – the political strategy is paying off. Let’s now make sure we get Labour elected.
If any activists are interested in standing for parliament or for any elected public office, please get in touch with Tom Warnett, political officer in national office, on tom.warnett@gmb.org.uk
